Jobs Report at U.S. Stock Futures Fluctuate Amid

According to Bloomberg, U.S. stock futures fluctuated, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index poised for its first weekly drop in a month, as investors assessed whether a better-than-forecast jobs report will prompt the Federal Reserve to cut stimulus as soon as its December meeting.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December rose 0.1 percent to 1,747.20 at 9:15 a.m. in New York, erasing an earlier drop of as much as 0.5 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts fell 7 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,560 today.

“For markets it shows that the labor market continues to tighten and should bring forward people’s estimates of when the Federal Reserve will have to reduce bond purchases,” said David Kelly, the chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds in New York, which oversees about $400 billion in long-term assets. “Ultimately this is good news for the economy. In the long run it’s good news for the stock market.”

Equity futures erased earlier gains after a report showed payrolls in the U.S. increased more than forecast in October. The addition of 204,000 workers followed a revised 163,000 gain in September that was larger than initially estimated. The jobless rate rose to 7.3 percent from an almost five-year low.